With the federal election upcoming, Niagara College students had the opportunity to learn more about the democratic process in Canada through an event to inspire civic engagement.
On October 2, 84 students at both the Niagara-on-the-Lake and Welland campuses took part in the Democracy Exchange Voting Pop-up hosted by ncLibraries. Students got to cast their ballots in a mock-vote to weigh in on the issues that matter most, as well as explore resources to help with evaluating the validity of news sources.
Library facilitators Siscoe Boschman and Jaclyn Chambers-Page led and coordinated the sessions as part of an information literacy initiative.
“The Voting Pop-Up event was designed to promote civic engagement among NC students in a fun and engaging way,” said Boschman. “In addition to practicing voting, students were able to ask questions they had about the voting process, such as how to register to vote, or what type of identification to bring. It was heartening to see the level of enthusiasm that our students, both domestic and international, displayed about Canada’s democratic processes.”
Boschman explains the importance of freely accessible information to democracy – that which is available at libraries – and the need to engage young people to vote. “In the last Federal Election only 57% of youth aged 18-24 came out to vote, in comparison to the 75% of voters aged 55 and over who came out to vote,” she said.
Programming included having students add their comments about why they vote. “It was both fascinating and inspiring to see students engage with Canadian democratic process,” said Chambers-Page. “The comments on the Why Vote? Board are especially insightful; democracy is thriving at NC.”
Topping the list of issues relevant to students were the environment, higher education, immigration, civil rights and health care.
With ncLibraries supporting intellectual freedom and functioning democracy, the libraries are non-partisan community spaces who are well-positioned to run events like these.
